1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless remote control of an appliance such as a garage door opener (GDO).
2. Background Art
Appliances such as garage door openers, security gates, home alarms, lighting, and the like may conveniently be activated from a remote control. Typically, a remote control is purchased together with an appliance. The remote control transmits a radio frequency (RF) appliance activation signal recognized by a receiver associated with the appliance to activate the appliance.
An aftermarket remote control provides another remote control, in addition to the original remote control, for activating the appliance. Aftermarket remote controls include remote garage door openers integrated into automotive vehicles. Typical integrated remote controls include universal or programmable garage door openers which learn, from the original remote control or an existing transmitter, about the appliance activation signal used to activate the appliance. As such, typical integrated remote controls include a RF receiver and a RF transmitter. In a learn or programming mode, the receiver receives the appliance activation signal used to activate the appliance from the original remote control or the existing transmitter to learn the characteristics of the appliance activation signal. In a normal operation mode, the transmitter transmits an appliance activation signal having the learned characteristics to the appliance receiver to activate the appliance. Typical integrated remote controls include user controls (e.g., buttons, switches, etc.) which a user actuates to place the remote control into the learn or programming mode and to activate its transmitter to transmit appliance activation signals.
A problem with typical integrated remote controls is the difficulty experienced by users in programming such remote controls. For instance, a user has to physically locate the receiver of the remote control and either the original remote control or the existing transmitter close enough to one another to enable the receiver of the remote control to receive the appliance activation signal from the original remote control or the existing transmitter.
Another problem with typical integrated remote controls is that the receiver, transmitter, and user controls are packaged as a single unit as a result of the receiver and transmitter sharing the same RF components, the requirement of the user having to have access to the receiver to physically locate the receiver close enough to the original remote control or the existing transmitter for the learn or programming mode, and the requirement of the user having to have access to the user controls. The last requirement requires that the user controls be placed near the vehicle driver's seat such as in overhead consoles and visors where space is at a premium. As such, this last requirement causes an additional problem in that the receiver and transmitter also have to be placed near the vehicle driver's seat where space is at a premium as they are physically packaged together with the user controls. Accordingly, the receiver, transmitter, and user controls are packaged together as a single unit resulting in sub-optimal placement of the components as they are physically located together and near the vehicle driver's seat and further resulting in a relatively large amount of premium space being consumed as the single unit package has a relatively large size.